Valve device



March 9 E. COFFEY VALVE DEVICE Filed om. 24, 1947 FIG.2.

FIGMH FIG.5. FIG.6.

FIG.3.

FIG}? INVENTO IRVEN E.COFFEY ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 25, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE 2,590,686 VALVE DEVICE Irven E. Coffey, St. Louis, Mo., assignor to Carter Carburetor Corporation, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Delaware Application October 24, 1941', Serial No. 781,863

on the inlet side, have been subject to uneven wear which seriously affects the operation of the pump. I have found that the life of this type of valve can be greatly increased by constructing the valve so as to utilize the torsional flexing of the valve seating spring to produce valve rotation and thereby distribute valve wear evenly upon the valve and seat.

Consequently, the main object of the present invention is to provide means for reducing the wear on the valve and valve seat.

Another object is to provide means for setting up rotational movement of the valve disk so as to distribute wear evenly thereabout.

These objects and other more detailed objects hereafter appearing are attained by the device illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section through an automotive fuel pump embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on the broken line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of one of the valve devices disassembled.

Fig. 4 is a section through the valve cage, with the valve, spring, and seat removed.

Fig. 5 is a view of the valve and its operating spring disassembled.

Fig. 6 is a view of the valve seat disassembled.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged section illustrating the abutting portions of the valve and its operating spring.

The pump herein illustrated is further described and claimed in my Patent No. 2,426,965 and certain features of the valve construction are disclosed and claimed in my application Serial No. 610,526, filed August 13, 1945. The pump is of the reciprocating automotive type including casings l, 8, and 9, and a cap l0 bolted to the latter. A lever H is pivoted at l2 to casing I and has an extremity I3 normally bearing against a cam M on the engine cam shaft. rhe other end of the lever is forked, as at l5, and bears against snubber structure l6 at the bottom of a stem l1 depending from and secured to diaphragm l8 for operation thereof. The diaphragm 2 Claims. (01. 251-129) is constantly urged upwardly in the discharge direction by a coiled spring l9 seating within casing 1, Intermediate casing 8 houses inlet check valve 20 and outlet check valve 2| and is provided with inlet fitting 22 and outlet fitting 23. Upper casing 9 forms inlet and outlet air domes, as better illustrated in the above mentioned Patent No. 2,426,965.

The inlet and outlet valves are identical and only one will be described. Each includes a circular die cast member 25 having annularly arranged valve guides 26 and struts 21 supporting a valve stop and spring seating member 28. Valve seating element 29, conveniently of brass, is press fitted within circular member 25 and secures in position valve disk 3|], of hard plastic material, and its operating spring 3| which, at its upper end, seats against stop 28.

The valve disk is provided with a spring seating central recess 32 having its circumference 33 curved about a radius substantially greater than the determining radius of the spring wire so that this circumference forms, in effect, an inclined surface against which spring 3| seats. During each opening of the valve disk, the abutting coil of spring 3| wedges against surface 33 and adheres thereto.

In operation, rotation of cam |4 causes sharp, intermittent downward movements of the diaphragm in the charging direction with intervening upward diaphragm movements in the discharging direction under the influence of spring I9. Each charging motion is accompanied by opening of inlet valve 20 compressing its spring 3| and each discharging motion causes opening of outlet valve 2|.

Since spring 3| is subjected to slight torsional flexing during each compression, such flexing is transmitted as rotation to the valve disk. On the other hand, as the valve starts to close, the inertia of the spring relaxes the adherence between the disk and the lowest spring coil so that the return flexing of the coil spring is not transmitted to the disk.

This results in intermittent rotation of the valve disk, always in the same direction, so that wear is evenly distributed about the abutting surfaces of the valve disk and its valve seating member 29.

As a result, these surfaces will be perfectlyilat and true after long service. In fact, I havegobserved valve seats worn as much as .080 Ea alnst which the valve disk still seats perfectly.

The principle of the invention may be otherwise embodied as will occur to those skilled in the art and the exclusive use of all modifications a's valve for urging the same against saidseat, and a' depression in the face of said valve for receiving said spring, said depression forming an annular surface directly engaging the end coil of said spring and inclined to the spring axis for wedging adherence to said spring during opening of said valve by flow pressure against said spring whereby the torsional flexing of said spring is transmitted to said valve.

2. A check valve assembly comprising a fluid pressure operated, light plastic valve and a valve seat therefor, a coil spring of uniform diameter compressed against saidvalve for urging the same against its seat, and an annular seat on said valve for said spring, said seat including a springengaging surface of annular form with its circumference curved about a radius greater than the seating portion of said spring'to form an inclined surface against which said spring seats, whereby said spring will engage said seat with a wedging adherenceand transmit to said valve rotational movement due to tortional'iiexing.

IRVEN E. COFFEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 618,472 Laing Jan. 31, 1899 982,677 Householder Jan. 24, 1911 1,044,300 Tryon Nov. 12, 1912 1,441,662 Conlin Jan. 9, 1923 1,695,726 Woolson Dec. 18, 1928 1,769,899 Mathews July 1, 1930 1,886,840 Schoene Nov. 8, 1932 2,375,810 Nelson May 15, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Q Number Country Date 451,470 Great Britain 1936 

